Secretary-General

OECD Secretary-General remarks at the final press conference of the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan

Remarks by Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General, delivered at the press conference on outcome document of the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan

Busan, Korea, 1st December 2011

Good morning ladies and gentlemen.

I would like to thank Minister Kim Sunghwan, and all of the Korean Government, for joining with us to make this event – and the global partnerships it represents – a reality.

Never before has there been such an inclusive and fully engaged process behind international development. I am pleased to join with Brazil, Russia, India and China and all the many others who have endorsed the Busan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation – and thank them for their presence here and their commitment to making development work effectively.

The outcome document we have endorsed here in Busan is important, but even more important is the buy-in it represents – the global partnership we have cemented here today.

Developing countries have owned this process from the beginning. They have led the negotiations and set the priorities. Wide and inclusive consultations on this agreement began six months ago. 18 sherpas – elected to represent the low-income, middle-income and OECD donor countries; civil society and multilateral organizations – have taken the negotiations forward to reach the consensus we have today.

While we still have a lot to do, this document in my hand is a roadmap that will take us forward on an agreed path. It says we: “recognize that we are united by a new partnership that is broader and more inclusive than ever before, founded on shared principles, common goals and differential commitments for effective international development.” these are principles we are all familiar with: ownership, focus on results, inclusive development partnerships, transparency and accountability to each other.

This is a new agenda. It is not about the sum of the parts. It is not just about aid. Each of us brings our history and achievements to bear on today’s pressing challenges. As the Busan Partnership document says, we will: “strengthen and leverage diverse sources of finance to support sustainable and inclusive development, including taxation and domestic resources mobilization, private investment, aid for trade, new financial instruments, investment options, technology and knowledge sharing and public-private partnerships.” And we will do this together.

We have the building blocks here. The endorsements that have been made over the past few days on ways forward to address issues as crucial as transparency, fragile states and climate finance show that we are already working together as never before.

1.5 billion people live in fragile and conflict-affected states yet no low-income fragile state has achieved any of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Despite 30% of Official Development Assistance spent in fragile states, results have been modest. Busan has seen the endorsement of a "new deal" that stresses that aid to fragile states should focus more explicitly on peacebuilding and statebuilding goals such as "legitimate politics", security and justice.

In Durban right now there are critical discussions going on with regard to climate – it is fundamental that we ensure that efforts to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change are fully integrated with development policy, finance and programmes. Busan has also produced a joint statement on expanding and enhancing cooperation between the public and private sectors to encourage inclusive and sustainable growth. The private sector has contributed actively over these three days and is committed to bringing their experience and resources to bear on development.

In our current economic crisis, we also know that effective institutions matter more than ever before- for OECD and non-OECD countries alike. Evidence in developing countries shows that an increase in institutional quality can produce large increases in income per capita by a significant amount- increasing GDP in some cases more than six fold. We also agreed that we must accelerate efforts to achieve gender equality.

I am proud that OECD is part of this global partnership. With our new development strategy, we are prepared to bring our full range of expertise to bear on producing results where they are needed most – to build better institutions and better policies, for better lives.

The United Nations Secretary-General, Helen Clark and I will be meeting shortly to discuss how our organizations will combine our comparative strengths behind this effort. We need to hit the ground running to start developing the frameworks that will make this partnership work.